Protective effect of Cod Liver Oil in Experimentally Induced Gastric Ulceration in Rats

Abstract

Background: Gastric ulcer is a life style disease, observed when gastric mucosa is exposed to the acid-pepsin mixture (APM) for prolonged period of time. The reason to undertake the present study is based on the scientific evidence that the cod liver oil found to possess a significant antioxidant and protective action against inflammation. However, there was no scientific proof established regarding the antiulcer activity of cod liver oil. As inflammation is one the causes of gastric ulcer, the present work was designed to evaluate the anti-ulcer efficiency of cod liver oil in three different ulcerated rat models. Methods: Ulcer was induced through pyloric ligation, ethanol, and aspirin. The effect of Cod liver oil was evaluated by estimating the pH of the gastric juice, volume of gastric juice, ulcer scores, free acidity, total acidity as well as mucin content in the ulcerated rat models. The degree of ulcer protective consequence was explored by comparing the data with standard drugs i.e. omeprazole and sucralfate. Results: Cod liver oil exhibited a significant mucosal protection and anti-secretory action in all three models. Cod liver oil showed percentage ulcer protection of >50% in pyloric ligation, ethanol-induced and aspirin-induced ulcer model when compared to standard drug omeprazole and sucralfate. Conclusion: The findings from the present study indicated that the use of cod liver oil in gastric ulcer may be beneficial as it showed significant mucoprotective and anti-secretory activity in ulcerated rat models.